The poet and journalist Carl Sandburg is most often credited with this bon mot for attorneys: If the facts are against you, argue the law. If the law is against you, argue the facts. If the law and the facts are against you, pound the table and yell like hell.

The problem with Gretchen Morgenson and Joshua Rosner’s These Are the Plunderers: How Private Equity Runs – and Wrecks – America is that while their moral and factual indictments of private equity operations find their mark, their pound-the-table-and-yell-like-hell tone detracts from its credibility. The book’s authors seem unaware that when you have the morality, law, and facts on your side, a quiet understated tone serves you better than hyperbolic overkill. READ MORE